Reprinted from an Avid press release:
Avid Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVID) today announced the industry’s first workflow for automating the creation of closed captioning and subtitling using MetaSync, Avid’s patent-pending technology that allows users to synchronize virtually any kind of metadata with digital video and audio. The Avid MetaSync technology will work in conjunction with scriptwriting software provided by Final Draft, and ProCap authoring systems from Evertz, to create closed captioning and subtitling directly in the Avid timeline during the editing process. This practice will eliminate the separate step of incorporating this type of information into programs after finalized broadcast masters have been created.
“Governments worldwide are mandating the adoption of closed captioning, and broadcasters have been looking for easier ways to streamline what has traditionally been a labor-intensive and time-consuming process,” said Ray Gilmartin, senior product marketing manager for Avid Technology. “Avid offers the perfect solution to meet their needs. Not only do MetaSync, Final Draft and Evertz ProCap make creating closed-captioning and subtitling almost effortless, but the process can now begin before the program is finished, saving producers valuable time as they strive to make tight broadcast deadlines.”
To create closed captioning and subtitling, editors using Avid systems import script dialogue directly from Final Draft and align it with the appropriate video content on the Avid timeline. Once editing is complete, both the video and the closed captioning/subtitling information are fed through the Evertz ProCap system and caption-encoder, which insert the captions and subtitles into the final broadcast format, according to industry standards and specifications.
Pricing and Availability
Avid MetaSync comes standard with all current versions of the Symphony, Media Composer, Avid Xpress and NewsCutter systems, as well as the new Media Composer Adrenaline, NewsCutter Adrenaline FX, Avid Xpress Pro and NewsCutter XP systems announced today. Final Draft and Evertz ProCap are sold separately and are expected to work with Avid MetaSync to create the automated closed captioning and subtitling workflow in Q2 2003.
